7-year-old girl hurt in 4-vehicle crash in Bay City

A 7-year-old girl was taken by helicopter to a Houston hospital Sunday night after a four-vehicle traffic crash on state Highway 35 in Bay City.

The child was a passenger in a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe, traveling east, which was attempting to turn left from a turn lane into a parking lot when it was struck from behind by a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado. The girl was in stable condition Monday,said Lt. Robert Lister of the Bay City Police Department.

The driver of the Silverado, Jason Thompson of Van Vleck is thought to have fallen asleep and was cited for failure to maintain a single lane, Lister said.

When the Tahoe was hit, Lister said, it spun around into oncoming traffic.

The driver and passenger, the 7-year-old girl, couldn't get their doors open so they tried to crawl out through the cargo area when the Tahoe was struck again - twice, Lister said.

A 2007 Ford Freestyle SUV driven by William Parks of Markham hit the Tahoe in the left rear, and then a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Tyler Perez of Bay City struck the Tahoe, Lister said.

The driver of the Tahoe, Lourdes Martinez, of Bay City, and three passengers in the 2000 Silverado, all teenagers, were taken by ambulance to Matagorda Regional Medical Center in Bay City.